Chapter 16: Missing Kidney

Jekyll groggily opened his eyes, greeted by the sight of the skylight covered with newly nailed wooden boards.

'Ah, seems like I've come full circle back to Harley Quinn's basement. Guess my efforts were for nothing.' he thought

The sound of running water from the bathroom felt familiar, almost fated in a way.

Jekyll reflected inwardly. Although he couldn't escape and live a peaceful life as he'd hoped, his perspective had shifted. Knowing Harley had been safeguarding him, he found it hard to harbor any resentment toward the girl.

Recalling his first awakening here, when he was delirious and nearly thought he'd been kidnapped by some thugs, he chuckled softly.

However, his smile froze. He felt a subtle pain around his waist and discovered thick bandages wrapped around his side.

"My kidney!!!"

A piercing scream echoed in the basement. Simultaneously, the bathroom door swung open, and a figure wrapped in a towel dashed out in a hurry.

"What's happening? What's wrong?!"

Jekyll's vision blurred momentarily due to the shock of his missing kidney, but he quickly averted his gaze out of respect.

Wait, did Harley Quinn have such thick leg hair?

And that voice just now was unmistakably male?

Jekyll slowly raised his gaze and met the gaze of a rather roguish man—it was Harley Quinn's henchman, Walker!

Glancing around to confirm no one else was in the basement, Walker breathed a sigh of relief.

"You scared the hell out of me! Stop yelling, I thought GCPD was storming in."

As Walker relaxed his grip, the towel wrapped around him suddenly dropped—revealing something indescribable to Jekyll.

"Ahhh! My eyes!"

...

After a moment, Walker finally got dressed and emerged from the bathroom. Meanwhile, Jekyll lay on the couch, enduring a multitude of torment—both physically and mentally—from his eyes and side.

"Don't give me that look. At least I cleaned up the mess at the scene, moved those dead or half-dead guys elsewhere, and even helped with the kidney removal surgery for the boss."

Hearing this, Jekyll's face turned pale, and his trembling fingers pointed to the heavily bandaged side of his abdomen.

"What the fuck?! I've really lost my kidney?"

Walker shrugged casually, grabbing a beer from the table as if nothing had happened.

"What's there to joke about? You didn't lose your memory, did you? The close-range gunshot from the Black Mask hit your right kidney, blowing it up. If the damaged organ wasn't removed quickly, your life would've been in danger. But you're somewhat lucky; you've got one kidney left. If it hit another organ, I doubt I could've saved you."

Jekyll was at a loss. In novels, movies, comics, and games, characters get shot multiple times, wrap a bandage, and bounce back in a few days. How come he lost a piece like this when he got shot?

Though, after taking a deep breath, Jekyll quickly accepted the reality. He remembered how perilous the situation had been. It was reckless to challenge the Black Mask, a classic antagonist from the original comics. If he was even a bit ignorant of the Black Mask's abilities, he couldn't have defeated him.

But even if faced with the same situation again, Jekyll might repeat his actions. Watching his savior, Harley, being tormented by the Black Mask, Jekyll couldn't stand idly by.

With this in mind, Jekyll narrowed his eyes as he looked at Walker, who was sipping beer.

"By the way, when the Black Mask drove the truck in earlier, where were you? Even that hyena, Bud, rushed up to bite the Black Mask. I thought you might have been knocked unconscious by the truck?"

Hearing Jekyll's words, Walker scratched his head with a slightly embarrassed look.

"I realized things were bad when the truck came in. Since the Black Mask found this place, it was all planned. So, I decided to slip out through the door... Oh, right, forgot to thank you. You pulled me out then."

"Slip out?!"

'This guy ran bounced away even faster than me.' Jekyll couldn't help feeling a bit disdainful towards Walker, who quickly raised his hands with a sheepish smile.

"Don't look at me like that. Even if I'd attacked bare-handed, I probably wouldn't have stood a chance against the Black Mask. Being brave in that situation would've been stupid, right?"

Walker didn't notice Jekyll's stiff expression and continued talking nonchalantly.

"Besides, I wasn't running away. I went home to put on my battle suit and came back to help—although resizing it due to my recent weight gain took some time. When I flew back, I happened to see the Black Mask's truck fleeing, and the warehouse was a mess."

"Still, wearing the battle suit had its merits. Later, I flew about two kilometers and dumped those bastards at the garbage disposal area. That way, the GCPD couldn't trace us—"

"Wait, wait—battle suit? Flying?"

Jekyll interrupted Walker, looking astonished at this rough middle-aged man.

"Wait, you're not just an ordinary thug?"

A subtle smile crept onto Walker's lips, and his whole demeanor instantly changed into something mysterious.

"It seems you've already noticed, so there's no need for me to hide it. Once, three years ago, when I was a bit more reckless, I spent a fortune creating my equipment to confront Batman in a moment of impulse. It ended in a disastrous defeat. You should know who I am by now."

Jekyll's expression immediately turned solemn. Gotham truly was a city filled with talent. He hadn't expected that someone he casually met would turn out to be a super villain. If characters meeting such criteria—

"You're the legendary—Silence, right?"

Walker's smile froze, and the atmosphere became somewhat awkward. From his expression, Jekyll immediately realized he had guessed wrong.

"Uh, Night Owl?"

"Better, at least it involves flying. But no, that's not it!"

"Scarecrow? Riddler? Firefly? Killer Croc?"

"Bro, you're just throwing out names; none of those are relevant—except the last one; the name is somewhat similar. Okay, I'll just say it, my former code name was Killer Moth. Now, does that ring a bell?"

Killer Moth? Jekyll vaguely remembered such a character. Wasn't he a B-list villain? However, thinking his emotional intelligence was high enough, Jekyll decided not to delve further for Walker's dignity.

But at the same time, Jekyll furrowed his brow, giving Walker a strange look.

"Killer Moth, right? I remember now. But even if it's a past thing, is it really okay to reveal your secret identity to me? From what I know, that's a very important secret."

"Am I really that unknown...? As for your question, it's not a big deal. After all, Harley already told me—"

Walker leaned closer to Jekyll, with a smiling face, and patted his shoulder in a friendly manner.

"From today, you're in charge of our Joker gang. What does it matter if I tell you this little secret? Please take care of me from now on, boss!"

°°°

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